Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have, by Deborah Frances-White

The Guilty Feminist has turned her attention to the looming threat of the far right across the world and the pressing need for progressive people to get their act together, stop tearing each other down over smaller issues and unite to face the future. These conversations delve into the past, gender issues, freedom of speech and cancel culture, arguing the case for persuasion and taking people along with you, rather than confrontation and alienation. Listeners to the Guilty Feminist podcast will be familiar with much of the content, so it can be a bit of a slog treading familiar ground through the early chapters. Also, her insistence on the term stamm to replace tribe or chosen family feels forced and is wholly unsuccessful. We hear a lot in politics about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, which can often translate to lower your expectations and just accept whatever little you can achieve. Frances-White does not use this phrase to promote her brand of pragmatic progressivism, but she does focus on working together to make what advances are possible, while never leaving it there or leaving anyone behind. This is a more practical and palatable form of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater when opposing the dark forces threatening to overwhelm us.

The Impossible Fortune, by Richard Osman

A new mystery sparks some stirrings of a return to life for former spy Elizabeth, following the death of her beloved husband. It comes up at the wedding of Joyce’s daughter when the best man has a meltdown and asks for help before disappearing. Is it possible her new son-in-law is too good to be true? Meanwhile Ron’s daughter has had enough of her violent criminal husband – and the whole family is at risk - can he protect his daughter and grandson? In the end everyone turns to Ibrahim for advice, guidance and care, even the criminals. Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club is so much more than the sum of its parts, laced with wry humour and keen insights into grief and relationships of all kinds – in this one especially the fraught quagmire of mother-daughter. Interactions. A very enjoyable read.

Chosen Family (2024), directed by Heather Graham

Yoga teacher Anne has an awful family and terrible taste in men, but luckily very good friends. They set her up with good guy Steve and it seems she might have finally found a good relationship. But Steve is going through a nasty divorce and his bratty daughter doesn’t want Anne on her territory. Can Anne stop being a people pleaser and learn to stand up for herself with her family and with Steve and his daughter? Heather Graham is an appealing Anne in this unusual rom com, set in Rhode Island, and Julia Stiles has fun as her drug addicted sister. The story is very slight and Anne possibly has rather too nice a house and car for an impoverished yoga teacher, but the cast is charming and the theme – all in the name – is refreshing and clearly close to the heart of its director, writer and star.

A Disappearing Act, by Jo Dixon

Four artistic friends are reuniting for a relaxing holiday in Tasmania, instigated by the most successful of the group – bestselling author Marnie. The four were housemates 25 years ago, sharing a bohemian warehouse in Melbourne while they established their careers in art, literature and design. The Tassie trip should be a blissful catchup of scattered friends, but there are simmering tensions around finances and long-buried secrets and then one of the four goes missing on a bushwalk. Was it an accident, an escape, or something more sinister? The story alternates between the points of view of designer Sarah in the present day and writer Marnie in 1999, slowly revealing events and consequences, past and current. Unfortunately most of the action is flagged and is based on a highly suspect premise, so there are few surprises and the four women are so unpleasant it is difficult to care. More than one character lierally gets away with murder, so it is ironic that the final word of the book is ‘justice’.

The Hallmarked Man, by Robert Galbraith

This latest Strike novel sees detective agency partner Robin Ellacott suffering PTSD from her last case and Cormoran Strike havering over his newly-acknowledged feeling for her. Neither is in great shape for an investigation into a bizarre murder in a silver shop with Freemasonry links. The body has been identified by police as a crime figure, but their client believes it is her missing boyfriend and wants them to prove it. They discover five potential candidates and attempting to rule them in or out leads the agency into the murky worlds of the SAS, porn films, sex trafficking and, of course, Freemasons. At almost 900 pages this could be a slog, but Galbraith’s fluent style and short sharp chapters keep the action moving swiftly. Nevertheless the seven-year will they-won’t they URST between the two principals has become tediously self indulgent, ending the novel with a cliffhanger it’s hard to care about.

Before the Coffee Goes Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

A basement café in Tokyo provides a refuge of sorts for a variety of regular customers, as well as the three people who work there – Kumi and couple Nagare and Kei. But it is more than this; urban legend says it is possible to go back in time there. There are strict rules and great risks and the experience will not change the present, but many people want to try it. This is an intriguing concept, executed in a series of vignettes that detail each different kind of time travel experience and how it affects the traveller. Deep issues are touched on – dementia, family dysfunction, a dangerous pregnancy, but not explored in any actual depth. It is a slim book, but a slow read, possibly due to the translation; it takes a long time to get a sense of the characters and the shape of the story, which is nevertheless quite predictable.

The Madame Blanc Mysteries - series 1-3, Acorn TV

After her husband’s death in a car crash in the south of France, English antiques dealer Jean White finds their business affairs are a mess and her only remaining asset is their cottage in St Victoire. But Rory’s death may not have been an accident and Jean finds herself stuck in town while she investigates what may turn out to be a serial killer with the help of a local ex-pat taxi driver. Former soap actress Sally Lindsay must have been frustrated at the lack of roles for older women, as she created, wrote and produced this ‘cosy crime’ series. Like its antecedent Death in Paradise, there are rather too many murders for a small town and it is a relief to have a few different crimes thrown in to the mix in series 3 , but the antiques aspect is always interesting. Malta works well as a stand in for the south of France, but there are a suspiciously high number of English expats, especially from Manchester, in the area and while it is refreshing that several older women have feature roles, the lack of young people after series 1 is very noticeable. There is a series 4, which may finally move forward with the annoyingly unresolved relationship between Jean and her taxi driver, but may also prove to be flogging a dead horse.